Connecticut December housing permits down 14%

Friday

Jan 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMJan 28, 2011 at 5:48 AM

Housing permits issued in December fell 14.3 percent statewide from a year ago as the construction industry continued to struggle to regain strength. Permits for the year were 7.9 percent above recession-racked 2009.

JAMES MOSHER

Housing permits issued in December fell 14.3 percent statewide from a year ago as the construction industry continued to struggle to regain strength. Permits for the year were 7.9 percent above recession-racked 2009.

December permits were 215 in the 128 towns that report monthly numbers to the U.S. Census, the state Department of Economic and Community Development said Friday. There were 251 permits for new construction in the year-earlier period.

The Builders Association of Eastern Connecticut held its Home and Better Living Show last weekend at Mohegan Sun and demand was higher than 2009, said Renee Main, the Salem-based group’s executive officer.

“We had a great crowd, and many consumers were serious about starting building and remodeling projects,” she said. “A major focus, in both cases, was energy efficiency. The demand is there.”

Consumers are struggling to find ways to satisfy their wishes, she said. Builders are also hampered.

“Financing remains a serious problem,” Main said.

A historically high number of foreclosures is also weighing down demand for new houses. The Norwich/New London market registered 1,547 foreclosures during 2010, up 16.7 percent from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a California-vased company that monitors the housing market.

One of every 76 homes was in foreclosure in Norwich/New London during 2010. That was below the national average of one in 45.

Norwich/New London moved higher on RealtyTrac’s national list of most troubled metropolitan areas, going to No. 126 from No. 133 a year earlier.

Las Vegas was the most troubled area during 2010 with one in every nine homes in foreclosure although its total number was down 7 percent from 2009.

“Foreclosure floodwaters receded somewhat in 2010 in the nation’s hardest-hit housing markets,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said. “Even so, foreclosure levels remained five to 10 times higher than historic norms in most of those markets.”

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